Hip-Hop Defending Hip-Hop

Lately, billboards have been popping up around Chicago stating "Stop Listening to This Trash!" while naming off big names like 50 Cent, Lil' Wayne, and Chicago native, Twista.







The billboards, as well as Reverend Michael Pfleger of the St. Sabina Church, who put them up, state that rap is degenerate music that promotes violence, drug use, and misogyny. Well, golly, we sure haven't heard that before! But, I know one of these artists will have something new to say that's never been heard before, (as they're artists and all)...



...but, in typical rap fashion, Twista spouted the same tired sentiment, commenting that "We're just rapping about what's going on in the streets of our cities of today". Now, I know we've heard this before... many times. And when hip-hop had storytellers like Slick Rick and 2pac, I would have agreed with Twista, but it's a far cry to call hip-hop the "CNN of the streets" nowadays (to steal a line from Chuck D).



Twista also added something new, making your humble narrator assume that, if someone should be reporting anything...anywhere, it ain't him. Quote: "After Columbine and Virginia Tech, why didn't rock music get accused as much?"



Now that you've had a chance to breathe that one in for a little while, let's take a look at it, shall we?



Really, how un-fucking-observant do you have to be to not have heard the words "Marilyn Manson", "Rammstein", or "rock music" after Columbine? As for V. Tech, well, it seems that our culture will stop paying attention to what you're listening to, playing, or watching when you turn twenty. Also, as a musician, why would you attack music? This is especially true if you're a controversial musician. Twista's street-reporting comes under further scrutiny as one considers that we're not talking about a specific crime here, (like the V. Tech Massacre or the Columbine High Shootings), we're talking about a genre of music that is thought to have caused a generation of violence.



So, reporter of the street? With that observational skill and logic, probably not.



Here's 50's attempt to defend hip-hop in the wake of the Don Imus controversy:






Within eleven seconds, 50 uses the "Bush in '04" strategy of "we're at war". Cunning use of redirection there, Curtis. Like his fellow "CNN of the street" correspondent, Twista, 50 turns on the FOX News logic and puts his foot in his mouth, (with no one there to call him on it, I might add), when he, again, redirects your attention to "the actual films that are released with similar content that has image and sound". Oh, you mean like "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" a film starring you, that is kind of about your life, and kind of about your music? Oh, before you retort there, 50, I'd like to add mention the names of three films you may have heard of: "Passion of the Christ", "A Clockwork Orange", and "Natural Born Killers". What do they have in common? Oh, yeah, they were protested for those uses of "image and sound".



Let's take another breather before we go on…



Okay, done. 50 then digs further into his own illogical muck when he pushes through this line "I personally believe… that it's easier to attack a individual [sic] than it is to go after a corporation". Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I've very rarely heard (other than rappers or fans of rap) anyone point out one rapper and go "he's promoting drug use, violence, misogyny, homophobia, racism, etc., etc…. but the rest of hip-hop is okay". Most people that are protesting rap use the blanket term of "rap" which is much bigger than a corporation. Many corporations are involved in rap… as I'm sure you're very aware, Curtis.



Before he's done not answering the question about hip-hop, he gets an uproarious applause from people who probably thought "This Is Why I'm Hot" was clever.



I'm not going to elaborate further on 50's joke of a defense, but just watch the video and think about the songs "Magic Stick" and "In Da Club" as he prattles on about "harsh realities".



The point? Maybe Twista, (who has been at number one a few times), 50 Cent (whose albums Get Rich or Die Tryin' and The Massacre have both hit number one), and the like are the reason that Nas said "Hip-Hop is dead". Maybe they're why people that like music with substance don't stick around long enough to hear the Saul Williams', the Sage Francis', the Immortal Techniques, or the Dead Prezs, because they don't even take the time to hear the "skin" of the music.



It's the MIMS', the Lil' Waynes, the Rich Boys, the Shop Boyz's, the Crime Mobs and so on that talk about how shitty the industry is, then brag about the #1 spot in the industry. To take a line from Immortal Technique and twist it a little, if you go platinum, it has nothing to do with how good of a rapper you are, it may just mean that a million people are stupid as fuck.